retrospection
Americannoun
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the action, process, or faculty of looking back on things past.
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a survey of past events or experiences.
noun
Etymology
Origin of retrospection
First recorded in 1625–35; retrospect + -ion
Explanation
The process of thinking about past events can be called retrospection. It will take some retrospection to remember your favorite moments from the last year or two. You might be familiar with the word introspection, which is all about the act of thinking about yourself — the things you do, the way you are, and the things you think about. Retrospection is similar — both words are rooted in the Latin specere, "to look at." Instead of intro-, "within," retrospection uses retro-, "behind," or "in past times," so your retrospection at your high school graduation might have you thinking back on your years of school.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Retrospection is to reminiscence much what recollection is to remembrance.
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin
"Retrospection," by Kathleen Baldwin, is likewise a poem of high order, and of fairly regular metre, evidently following comparatively recent models in technique.
From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips)
This Interrogatory put Zadig in a Moment upon a Retrospection of all his past Adventures.
From Zadig Or, The Book of Fate by Voltaire
Ah!—What should follow slips from my reflection; Whatever follows ne'ertheless may be As à-propos of Hope or Retrospection, As though the lurking thought had followed free.
From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 6 by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley
Looking back is best that is left, Or if it be before, Retrospection is prospect's half, Sometimes almost more.
From Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Dickinson, Emily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
